Dulcitius/Abraham

by Hrotsvitha Von Gandersheim

Dulcitius/Abraham

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Theatre, School, 10th Century, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 990

Reviews

[Aaron Piccirillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Are you not ashamed that you could not overcome the resolution of a little child without resorting to force of arms?”

this literally took me 10 minutes to read it was wayyyyyy shorter than i thought it was going to be and like nothing happened. it was kinda funny but i didn’t even really laugh there was just comedic moments to it and again nothing happened. but i guess it was fun that this was written by the first recorded female playwright and she was a nun soo that’s fun. irena be the only bad bitch out of the three sisters and everyone was just mean to them because they wouldn’t convert.... idk lol the dark ages of theatre i guess.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly funny and witty, if not exactly a study in plot or character development.

[Natalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's very catholic so not for me lol. Kind of empowering all things considered though.

[Cheyenne]

The take away is “don’t be a thief and you may meet the baby Jesus”

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer- I’m in a “Women in Medieval Literature” class this semester, so yes I’m going to add every little thing we read just so I can feel better about my ‘read’ numbers. This was the first thing we read and I thought it was entertaining, much funnier than I was expecting, and i’ll be looking forward to discussing it more in class.

[Madelein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Live reading with the crew: what the hell

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent medieval play from one of the most badass literary geniuses in human history. Hrotsvitha was a tenth century German nun who likely had no access to actual theatre performance--and certainly no direct experience of classical theatre as it was performed in ancient Greece or Rome--but she read the plays of Terrence and was basically like, I can do that with Christian saint's lives. And she did. Scholars speculate that she basically re-invented drama in Europe centuries after the fall of Rome--though realistically some forms of folk drama and ritual performance almost definitely survived. But Hrotsvitha was the first that we know of to write plays in Europe after Rome collapsed about five centuries earlier.

By modern standards, her plays--including Dulcitius--aren't great, in part because they are medieval drama, and medieval drama/lit is less interested in developing the internal thoughts and opinions of characters that it is in the plot of a story. But for modern audiences raised on the psychological focus of novels, this feels very flat and boring. But essentially what Hrotsvitha did that was so brilliant was that she recognized that hagiographic stories (stories of saints' lives, meant to inspire and model proper Christian behavior) could be acted out, which would be much easier for largely illiterate audiences to follow and understand. There is debate about whether Hrotsvitha's plays ever were actually performed, or whether they were just meant to be read, but I personally suspect there were at least dramatic readings, even if those were just by the nuns for their own enjoyment and edification.
https://youtu.be/1OgFyDyvYg8

[Edward Cheer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I figured it had to be about time to read the first female playwright's play since I had made it my express goal to read all other first things out there (first recorded play and written work, et cetera). And... yeah, I wasn't a big fan.

If you're thinking that Dulcitius is about a guy named Dulcitius... you'd be partially correct. It's about the three Christian virgins Agape, Chiona, and Irena as they're brutally tortured by the Roman powers-that-be (one of them being Dulcitius). So I don't quite understand the title, and therein lies another piece of confusion I had about this play: who are the main characters supposed to be?

So, we're supposed to be drawn to the three women that won't convert from Yahweh to the Roman gods (it's hard not to, since Hrotsvitha was a nun), but they barely speak in the play. We spend the majority of this already short play with all the Roman officials who are the clear antagonistic force to the virgins since they keep attempting new methods of torture to get the women to change their beliefs. But another problem that lies with them is that beyond their frustration with the three virgins... they don't have any character. They're all just d***s that want to make these women convert.

And you'd think that with these roughly-written antagonists, there might be some hope that the three virgins are written well too. But all the scenes with them boil down to "CONVERT TO OUR IDEAS!" "No." There's little characterization given to either side and it sounds more like a historical re-enactment done on the History Channel rather than- you know- a drama.

Despite this, Dulcitius does have at least good structure to it, and it showcases the power of faith in God (though where that faith gets the three girls by the end of the play doesn't advertise their faith well either), but I won't let this dirty my lens for Hrotsvitha. It could have been a poor translation that I read. I'd still be willing to read more of her works anyways. But Dulcitius, in my opinion, is not a very good play.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

this odd little christian play was also oddly the most entertaining play read in my textbook so far! for once everything rhymed, and there was a clear comedy with just-as-clear serious allegorical elements! the power of women being just plain smarter than literally all the men around them! I'm not religious, so the christian messages did nothing for me (sorry hrotsvitha, didn't convert me this time), but I appreciated that they were not so specific to christianity, since the basic themes of the eternal soul and mortal body are of course philosophized over by many. there's really not much else to say about it, except that it was most likely written to not be performed, just read, and I could tell from the complete lack of stage direction and scene distinction.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dulcitius is a short play by a 10th century nun. In most aspects it pales in comparison with the work of Greece and the Golden age of the fallen empire, especially in length, depth and technical quality. It is nonetheless elevated by the passion its author infuses and the very believable female characters, I mean, as it is reflected in the style of voice and dialogues, not especially their actions.

Granted, I imagine there is little a girl freshly confronted with the loving religion herein contemplates more fondly than her appropriate behaviour should she be offered the chance to accept martydom.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think it is entirely fair to rate "Dulcitius." On one hand, it is by the first female playwright, who created a whole new theatrical tradition in Europe well after the fall of the Roman Empire. It has some witty lines of dialogue and funny images. However, to a modern reader it would probably come off as boring, dull, and short.

With that said, I enjoyed it for what it was. I think I could squeeze this in for my Honors students either in the Medieval Unit or as an outside reading assignment.

[Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The major flaw in this text is the blatant racism, which needs to be acknowledged.
Otherwise, this is a pretty intriguing play, despite only being a few pages. The sisters are wonderfully dignified, as well as powerful. I loved Hrotsvitha's take on virginity, and how it relates to holiness, in this context.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, though very didactic. Despite the demeaning ideas about women's purity being connected to their sexual experience, the three holy virgins are strong female roles, something I didn't expect in a play about Christianity.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd hope this would be the most embarrassingly immoral morality play ever written, but sadly, I'm definitely being naive. That said, the only valuable thing in this work is to show how completely and unthinkingly easy it is for a whole society to be convinced that the delusional is the truth.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange read. I’m still not completely sure what happened. It kinda felt like a weird drug trip. I’m sure that has to do with the length. Everything happened so fast because it’s short.

The pots and pans scene bumped my rating up to 3 stars because it was just so strange I had to laugh.

[By The Cover · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you even rate something like this? Lol. Hrotsvitha seems like she would have been cool.

[Lydia Shearin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play was so interesting because Hrotsvitha wrote this like a comedy, but it has such a dark subject of martyrdom, so it feels really weird to be laughing at the absurdity of some of the scenes.

[Rene · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for theatre literature class

[abby murrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was weird as HECK but i absolutely loved it.
(theatre in culture)

[Liam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad, racist

[Emily’s Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

tbh a little too preachy for me somehow?

[Athena Psihudakis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of iconic for a nun to write

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

otra obra de la baja edad media, pero 3.5 pq está es más wena.

Hrotsvitha, la primera dramaturga de la edad media, eres demasiado icónica reina.

La monja más teatrera!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hrosvitha you legend. Who knew a woman started our modern theatre era with a brilliant tragicomic morality play? I laughed out loud several times

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.8

I can't say I cared for it too much. Maybe it would've been better in the original (Latin)?
The translation felt overly terse – or perhaps that is not an artifact of the language so much as the stylistic convention at the time. Either way, it seemed half (or more) of the dialogue's purpose was to describe what they were doing. It was funny only in a very surface way – and perhaps this is just me being me and generally not appreciating comedies so much – but like, a guy tries to kiss(/rape) a bunch of pots and pans. It quickly felt more preachy than comedic to me. The martyrs were far more annoying than sympathetic, and the clear good vs evil, purity/goodness vs foolishness made the message all the harder to believe.

Interestingly, taking a modern lens to it (i.e. if one were reading this with the knowledge that it was published today) one might call it satire and get the complete opposite message, due to how out-of-touch with these ideals we are today.

But it was not a play I particularly enjoyed reading, or even saw much of the merit in reading for a lit (as opposed to history) class. Or at least, in analyzing/thinking about it deeply – I suppose reading for exposure to the norms of the time in lit is worthwhile.

despite all that, I'm not upset I read it. Mainly because of the last bit of the above paragraph.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of Hrotsvitha until I took a class in theatre history, ranging from classical Greco-Roman plays to about 1500. This play of hers is clearly meant to express its message (the triumph of faith in Christ against persecution leading to martyrdom) regardless of beauty of expression (there isn't much) or character development (again, slim pickings). If you want to read this extremely brief play (in my Norton textbook, it was only six-and-a-half pages) for the sake of historical completeness (it *is* a work by the first known female playwright), feel free. It won't take much time, and it won't do any harm. Just don't expect to be blown away.

[Ian Bond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious. Worth reading.

[Bonnie]

Finally done. Read this in the original Latin for class. Silly, but not in an engaging way. In English, I'm sure this would be a much more enjoyable read.

[Leah]

Although short and a bit overly religious, this is an important work. Hrosvita (spelled various ways) ismthe earliest named playwright of the European Middle Ages. She was also a brilliant woman.